Blood proteins reveal which aging cells may raise disease risk

A large plasma proteomics study shows that aging patterns in specific cell types may help identify who is more vulnerable to disease and who is more resilient.

Study: Plasma proteomic signatures of cellular aging predict human disease. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock

A recent study published in the journal Nature Medicine suggests that estimating cell-type-specific aging signatures from blood-based plasma proteins could help scientists predict disease risk.

Analyzing over 7,000 plasma proteins in over 60,000 individuals, they found that accelerated aging signatures in specific cell types were associated with a higher risk of disease. For instance, extreme astrocyte aging increased the risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease (AD) among people with the APOE4 genotype. On the other hand, young nerve and immune cells seemed to have a protective effect, improving survival outcomes. These findings suggest that protein profiling could one day help researchers stratify risk and explore more personalized approaches to prevention and treatment.